James Blunt has revealed that he refused an order to attack Russian troops while serving with the British army in Kosovo.

The singer claimed that when the Russians seized control of an airport in Kosovo he was told to remove them, but refused because of the consequences it could have.

He told BBC Radio 5Live: "I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there. The direct command [that] came in from General Wesley Clark was to overpower them.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

"And if we had a foothold there then it would make life much easier for the NATO forces in Pristina. So there was a political reason to take hold of this. And the practical consequences of that political reason would be then aggression against the Russians."

Asked if following the order would have risked starting World War 3, Blunt replied: "Absolutely. And that's why we were querying our instruction from an American general. Fortunately, up on the radio came General Mike Jackson, whose exact words at the time were, 'I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War 3'."